


petal tongue

by chadsuke



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-24
Updated: 2016-07-24
Packaged: 2018-07-26 09:25:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7568848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chadsuke/pseuds/chadsuke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every single day, Jade comes in for the daily flower.</p>
            </blockquote>





	petal tongue

“Hi, Rose!” announced Jade as she flounced in, propping her elbows on the counter and giving the latina girl a buck-toothed grin. “One dollar for the flower of the day, please!”

Rose returned the smile with a softer one of her own, turning to pluck a flower from a carefully played vase and pass it over. Jade took it in her brown hand and gave it a sniff. “It’s a daylily.”

“It’s very pretty!” She sniffed again, and passed over a dollar, turning to flounce out the door. “Thanks, Rose! You always have the best flowers!”

The bell rang as she threw open the door, and then she was gone, Rose watching her with a warm smile.

* * *

“Hi, Rose!” Jade was back the next day, waiting expectantly at the counter. This time, Dave was next to her, his conversation with his sister temporarily halted. “Flower of the day, please!”

“One moment, Dave,” Rose said calmly, before handing over a flower. “It’s a chrysanthemum.”

Jade examined this one curiously. “It’s yellow! It looks like a giant, fancy dandelion.” She beamed at Rose, passing over a dollar. “Thank you!”

As she left, Dave stared after her. “…does she really do that every day?”

Rose huffed. “Yes, Dave, she does. It is perfectly normal for her to want to come in and get a flower each day. It is on her route to work.”

He turned, lifting an eyebrow. “You know where she works?”

Rose colored. “W-Where were we? What were you saying about your party last night?”

* * *

Rose was crouched below the counter when Jade came in this time, out of view as she carefully organized some pots. “Rose?” came a questioning voice above the counter. “Rooooose?”

The girl straightened up, but did so without thinking, smacking her head on the underside of the counter. “Fuck!” she swore instinctively, before rising to greet Jade with a slightly teary smile, one hand holding her head. “Sorry, Jade, your usual?”

Her cheery customer’s usual smile was gone, replaced only by concern. “Rose, are you alright? That sounded bad!”

The cashier instinctively shook her head, and then winced. “I will put ice on it as soon as I have finished with you, I promise.”

Jade didn’t seem too convinced, but she let it drop. “Alright… yeah, my usual.” She passed over a dollar, and Rose turned to survey the flowers, eyes glancing about until the alighted on a specific pot.

“Here.” Instead of the usual single flower, several blue flowers were blooming at the end of the stalk. “They’re forget-me-nots.”

“Oh!” Her brown eyes lit up behind her glasses, and she gave them a sniff. “They’re beautiful, Rose!” Jade gave her a soft smile. “Take care of yourself, okay? Ice it! Be careful!” She reached out to put her hand on Rose’s for a moment, squeezing, and then flounced off, her yellow dress flowing around her.

Rose stood stock still, as if moving too quickly would erase that moment from her memory, before finally exhaling and moving to get ice from the back for her throbbing head.

That was… wow.

* * *

“Hey, Rose!” Jade greeted, her too-big green rain boots stomping on the tile as she strode in. It was pouring outside, but she was undeterred. “Is your head feeling any better?”

Dave, perched on a cart behind the counter, gave his sister a curious look, but didn’t say anything. Rose gave a graceful nod. “Yes, it is. I iced it thoroughly and I feel much better.”

“That’s great!” she chirped, slapping four quarters down in the counter with a clang. “Flower of the day, please!”

Dave snorted, glancing outside. “Dunno if your flower will survive outdoors.”

Jade rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so pessimistic, doofus! I’ll keep it with me under my umbrella.” She tapped the pink polka dot monstrosity against her side, and Dave kept quiet.

“I’m sure your tulip will survive,” Rose declared, passing over the red flower.

She smiled. “It will. Thanks, Rose, it looks great!”

With that, she bounced out, and Dave grinned at his lovestruck sister. “You don’t _have_ flowers of the day.” Rose. Stopped. “I was talking to Roxy. You just made that up.”

“I- I most certainly did not, that is-”

“Flower language, Rose, really?” He shook his head, hopping off the cart and heading for the stairs before the Lalonde could recover. “For shame, for shame. Even I properly asked Karkat out.”

Rose stared after her brother as he stuffed his hands and lightly skipped up the stairs, before slamming a fist on the counter and bending over it with a crimson face. “Shit, shit, shit...”

* * *

“Rooooooose!” Even though she tried to hide it, Rose couldn’t help the way she perked up as the other entered the store, a soft smile instinctively crossing her face. “My usual, please!”

The girl had long since memorized the time that Jade roughly arrived at, and she passed over the yellow tulip. “It matches your dress.”

She looked down at her yellow and black bumblebee dress and grinned. “You’re right!” However, this time, she looked at the flower and her smile faded a bit. “Is this a tulip again? Just yellow?”

Rose nodded, worry suddenly curling in her gut. “Y-Yes. We had too many tulips in our last shipment, so we’re kind of trying to get rid of them.”

Jade brightened, understanding, and dug in her pocket to put four more quarters on the table. “Oh, okay! Can I have two, then, take them off your hands?”

“Of course.”

When Rose handed her the second flower, however, she did something different. Jade broke the stem of the flower way shorter, stood on her tiptoes and leaned over the counter, tucking the flower behind Rose’s ear. “There. It suits you.”

Rose was absolutely positive her face couldn’t redden any further, and she couldn’t breathe as she slowly nodded. “Thank you.”

Jade beamed, buck-toothed and bright. “See you tomorrow!”

* * *

Rose’s hands were trembling on this Saturday, her hands carefully folded around a dethorned red rose. It was time. She was going to pass this over, and she was going to ask Jade on a date. She could do this.

But god, why was this so nerve-wracking?

“Hi, Rose!” The Lalonde nearly got whiplash from how fast she jerked her head up, staring wide-eyed in Jade’s brown eyes. They were very, very close. She hadn’t heard the bell come off as she entered. “Is that the flower of the day?”

Mutely, Rose nodded and offered it.

Jade plucked it up with a flourish, and twirled it between her fingers. “Passionate love, huh..”

She froze. “You… know flower language?”

The brunette grinned, waggling her eyebrows over her glasses. “I’m an artist. Of course I do. Want to go to the park after you get off work?”

Rose could do nothing but nod, completely astounded at the way this conversation had gone. Jade beamed. “Great!” With that, she leaned forward to give Rose a quick kiss on the cheek, dropping four quarters on the counter, and flounced off. “See you later!”

It was only after the bell had rung and the door clanged behind her that Rose was able to move, sinking down on the nearest cart and pressing her hand to her cheek. “Y-Yes… See you later…”

**Author's Note:**

> flower meanings taken from here: http://aboutflowers.com/flower-a-plant-information-and-photos/meanings-of-flowers.html
> 
> inspired by this art: http://snilm.tumblr.com/post/147173119738/day-1-of-jaderoseweek-is-crossovers-so-u-know


End file.
